Christian Drosten

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Christian Heinrich Maria Drosten (born June 12, 1972 in Lingen im Emsland ) is a German virologist . From 2007 to 2017 he was a professor at the University of Bonn . Since 2017 he has been a professor and institute director at the Charité in Berlin . One of his research interests include EMERGING viruses (English emerging viruses ). Drosten became known to a broader public in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic , including through the NDR podcast Coronavirus Update . In reporting on the pandemic, he is one of the most frequently mentioned scientists.

Life

Education and personal life

Drosten was born in 1972 in Bonifatius Hospital Lingen and grew up on a farm in Groß Hesepe in the Emsland . After graduating from the Marianum Episcopal Gymnasium in Meppen , Drosten first studied chemical engineering and biology at the Technical University of Dortmund and the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster from 1992 . From 1994 he studied human medicine at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and passed the third state examination in May 2000 . It was 2003 in Frankfurt with a dissertation on the establishment of a high-throughput - PCR assay system for immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus to the blood donor testing , completed at the Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Immune Hematology of the blood transfusion service of the Red Cross , with summa cum laude for the medical doctor PhD.

Drosten and his partner live in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg and have a son born in 2017.

Scientific career

From June 2000 Drosten worked as an intern in the laboratory group of the physician Herbert Schmitz in the Virology Department of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, where he headed the molecular diagnostics laboratory group and established a research program for the molecular diagnostics of tropical viral diseases. From 2007 Drosten headed the Institute for Virology at the University Hospital Bonn . In 2017 he was appointed to the Charité in Berlin, where he heads the Institute for Virology.

Drosten is one of the co-discoverers of the SARS coronavirus SARS-CoV (sometimes also referred to as SARS-CoV-1 to differentiate it from SARS-CoV-2) in 2003. He succeeded with Stephan Günther a few days after the identification and before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is also developing a diagnostic test for the newly identified virus. Drosten made his findings on SARS immediately available to the scientific community via the Internet, even before his contribution was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in May 2003 . This was u. a. recognized by Nature magazine . That same year, the working group published to Drosten the sequenced genome of the (-1) SARS coronavirus SARS-CoV in the journal Science , and identified it as a major cause of acute heavy Respiratory Syndrome (English Severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS).

From 2012, the research group headed by Drosten also researched the Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and developed the standard test that was subsequently used worldwide to detect this pathogen.

Christian Drosten has an h-index of 98 according to Google Scholar (as of August 2020) and 79 according to the Scopus database . Some of his publications are cited more than 2,000 times in scientific articles . Science counts him among the "world's leading experts on coronaviruses".

Activity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

For the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 , which first appeared in December 2019 , the research group led by Drosten also developed the world's first diagnostic test and made it freely available in mid-January 2020. She also published the sequenced genome from samples obtained in Germany.

In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Drosten advises politicians and authorities and is present in the media as an expert, including in the podcast Coronavirus Update published by Norddeutscher Rundfunk, which has been published Monday to Friday since February 26 . On March 17, 2020, the star wrote : “The corona virus has made the virologist Christian Drosten the most sought-after man in the republic. And to the star ”, and“ [...] since Corona has been rampant, Drosten is the man who controls the crisis, who navigates us through the crisis. Who doesn't gloss over anything and doesn't dramatize anything. He weighs up and corrects, who says if he doesn't know something or thought too briefly the day before. ”In his podcast (No. 32) of April 16, 2020, he explains that he has not been involved in political advice for weeks . In March he emphasized that he was only one of many scientists who consulted the federal government, the main role being played by the Robert Koch Institute , but in particular that he had not discussed the need for measures such as a curfew with the government.

Public criticism and hostility

In his public presence, Drosten is increasingly exposed to hostility and even death threats. Der Spiegel dedicated a title article to him, “Revered and hated”. During the COVID-19 pandemic , BILD attacked Christian Drosten sharply: On May 25, 2020 the paper appeared with the page 1 headline “Questionable methods: Drosten study on infectious children grossly wrong - how long has the star virologist known already from it? ". The picture editor Filipp Piatov used tendentious and falsified quotes. A study that the virologist and other scientists published as a preprint on April 29, 2020 was criticized and in which it was concluded that children could spread the coronavirus as well as adults. The paper underpinned the criticism with quotes from scientists - most of them statisticians - who immediately afterwards publicly distanced themselves from the reporting. Several scientists stated that they were not interviewed directly. Politicians also presented themselves to Drosten.

In the days that followed, editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt defended the publication as "legitimate reporting". According to Reichelt, the picture received information from government circles and prime ministers. There they were unhappy about the decision to keep schools and daycare centers largely closed. This was influenced by the criticized study. The April 2020 study stated that “children could be as infectious as adults” and warned “against an unlimited reopening of schools and kindergartens in the current situation”. In the updated version from early June, the core message was worded differently: “In particular, there is little evidence from the present study that children may not be as contagious as adults” and it is said that “caution and careful monitoring in the gradual withdrawal is pharmaceutical interventions ”is recommended.

A later American study published in JAMA Pediatrics at the end of July 2020 came to comparable results. However, with around 50 participants for each of the three age groups, it only had a small number of participants. The mean virus concentration in the age group 5–17 years did not differ greatly from that of the adults. In contrast, the concentration was significantly higher in the smears recorded by children under five.

More activity

Drosten is a co-signer of a letter from 100 doctors who called for stronger action to be taken against false information about the COVID-19 pandemic . Melanie Brinkmann , also a co-signatory, is quoted as saying: "We have to ensure that information that is not yet ready is not widely disseminated." The letter came through the Avaaz campaign network , which campaigns for the WHO and against Donald Trump positioned.

Drosten is committed to the transparent dissemination of scientific data and therefore publishes in specialist journals such as Eurosurveillance , where all articles are freely available online.

Honors

  • In 2003, Drosten and Stephan Günther were awarded the 8,000 euro prize from the Werner Otto Foundation for the promotion of medical research for “identifying the SARS coronavirus and establishing a rapid diagnostic test system” .
  • In 2020 the DFG awarded him a one-time special prize for “outstanding communication in science in the Covid19 pandemic” of the Communicator Prize . The special prize is endowed with 50,000 euros.
  • 2020 Grimme Online Award for the NDR podcast "The Coronavirus Update". He received both the jury award and the audience award.
  • 2020 KlarText special prize for science communication from the Klaus Tschira Foundation for "extraordinary commitment to social dialogue about science".

Fonts (selection)

  • with WK Roth, E. Seifried and M. Weber: Evaluation of a new PCR assay with competitive internal control sequence for blood donor screening, Transfusion, Volume 40, 2000, pp. 718-724.
  • Establishment of high-throughput PCR test systems for HIV-1 and HBV for blood donor testing , 2001, doctoral thesis at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main 2003.
  • with WK Roth, E. Seifried a. a .: Yield of HCV and HIV-1 NAT after screening of 3.6 million blood donations in central Europe, Transfusion, Volume 42, 2002, pp. 862-868.
  • with S. Göttig, S. Günther et al .: Rapid detection and quantification of RNA of Ebola and Marburg viruses, Lassa virus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Rift Valley fever virus, Dengue virus, and Yellow fever virus, Journal of clinical microbiology, Volume 40, 2002, pp. 2323-2330.
  • with S. Günther u. a .: Identification of a novel coronavirus in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome , New England journal of medicine, Volume 348, 2003, pp. 1967-1976.
  • with T. Kuiken et al: Newly discovered coronavirus as the primary cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome, The Lancet, Volume 362, 2003, pp. 263-270.
  • with P. Rota, W. Bellini et al .: Characterization of a novel coronavirus associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome. Science, Vol. 300, 2003, pp. 1394-1399.
  • SARS and other coronaviruses. In: H. Mittermayer, F. Allerberger (ed.), Spectrum of Infectious Diseases, Balingen: Spitta Verlag 2005, pp. 310-316.
  • with KH Chan and LLM Poon: Viral diagnostics of SARS. in M. Peiris et al. a. (Ed.), Severe acute respiratory syndrome, Blackwell Scientific, Oxford 2005, pp. 64-71.
  • SARS coronavirus. In: R. Marre, T. Mertens, M. Trautmann, W. Zimmerli (Eds.), Clinical Infectious Diseases. Recognizing and treating infectious diseases, Urban & Fischer, 2007, pp. 342–343.
  • Ways to discover new viruses , in Hans W. Doerr (Ed.), Medical Virology, Thieme 2010
  • with Stefan Schmiedel: rabies. In: Thomas Löscher, Gerd-Dieter Burchard (ed.), Tropical Medicine in Clinic and Practice, Thieme, 4th edition 2010, pp. 392–398.
  • with J. Drexler et al: Bats host major mammalian paramyxoviruses, Nature Communications, Volume 3, 2012, pp. 1-13.
  • with C. Reusken et al: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus neutralizing serum antibodies in dromedary camels: a comparative serological study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 13, 2013, pp. 859-866.
  • with N. Ithete et al: Close relative of human Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in bat, South Africa, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Volume 19, 2013, p. 1697.
  • with VS Raj et al: Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 is a functional receptor for the emerging human coronavirus-EMC, Nature, Volume 495, 2013, pp. 251-254.
  • with C. Rothe et al: Transmission of 2019-nCoV infection from an asymptomatic contact in Germany, New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 382, ​​2020, pp. 970-971.
  • with M. Hoffmann, Stefan Pöhlmann a. a .: SARS-CoV-2 cell entry depends on ACE2 and TMPRSS2 and is blocked by a clinically proven protease inhibitor, Cell, 2020
  • with VM Corman ao: Detection of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) by real-time RT-PCR. Eurosurveillance, Volume 25, 2020, 2000045

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ CDU, CSU parliamentary group: Prof. Dr. Christian Drosten. Retrieved August 26, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Achim Tack, Holger Dambeck, DER SPIEGEL: Media presence of virologists: Drosten is number one - DER SPIEGEL - health. Retrieved May 20, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Matthias Bartsch, Uwe Buse, Lukas Eberle, Georg Fahrion, Jan Friedmann, Johann Grolle, Veronika Hackenbroch, Marc Hujer, Martin U. Müller , Fritz Schaap : Is Covid-19 out of control? In: Der Spiegel . Retrieved March 4, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Establishment of high-throughput PCR test systems for HIV-1 and HBV for blood donor testing, inaugural dissertation to obtain the doctoral degree in medicine from the human medicine department of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main presented by Christian Drosten from Lingen, Hamburg, 2001
  5. ↑ Coronavirus: The number of samples at the Frankfurt University Hospital is increasing - when will the vaccine come? In: fnp.de. March 3, 2020, accessed March 16, 2020 .
  6. ^ Awarded the postdoctoral prizes of the Robert Koch Foundation 2004
  7. ↑ The virologist who recommends bottled beer to Germans in the Corona crisis . In: The world . March 17, 2020 ( online [accessed March 25, 2020]).
  8. ↑ Prof. Dr. Christian Drosten. In: Brain City Berlin. Retrieved March 25, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Person: Christian Drosten. In: virologie-ccm.charite.de. Retrieved March 16, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Christian Drosten, Stephan Günther , Wolfgang Preiser, Sylvie van der Werf, Hans-Reinhard Brodt, Stephan Becker , Holger F. Rabenau, Marcus Panning, Larissa Kolesnikova, Ron AM Fouchier, Annemarie Berger, Ana-Maria Burguière, Jindrich Cinatl, Markus Eickmann, Nicolas Escrioum, Klaus Grywna, Stefanie Kramme, Jean-Claude Manuguerra, Stefanie Müller, Volker Rickerts, Martin Stürmer, Simon Vieth, Hans-Dieter Klenk , Albertus "Albert" Dominicus Marcellinus Erasmus Osterhaus , Herbert Schmitz, Hans Wilhelm Doerr : Identification of a Novel Coronavirus in Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. In: New England Journal of Medicine . Volume 348, 2003, pp. 1967-1976, doi: 10.1056 / NEJMoa030747
  11. ^ Alison Abbott: SARS testing: First past the post. In: Nature . Volume 423, 2003, p. 114, doi: 10.1038 / 423114a
  12. ↑ Paul A. Rota, M. Steven Oberste, Stephan S. Monroe, W. Allan Nix, Ray Campagnoli, Joseph P. Icenogle, Silvia Penaranda, Bettina Bankamp, ​​Kaija Maher, Min-hsin Chen, Suxiong Tong, Azaibi Tamin, Luis Lowe, Michael Frace, Joseph L. DeRisi, Qi Chen, David Wang, Dean D. Erdman, Teresa CT Peret, Cara Burns, Thomas G Ksiazek, Pierre E. Rollin, Anthony Sanchez, Stephanie Liffick, Brian Holloway, Josef Limor, Karen McCaustland, Melissa Olsen-Rasmussen, Ron Fouchier, Stephan Günther, Albert DME Osterhaus, Christian Drosten, Mark A. Pallansch, Larry J. Anderson, William J. Bellini: Characterization of a Novel Coronavirus Associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. In: Science . Volume 300 (5624), May 2003, pp. 1394-1399, doi: 10.1126 / science.1085952
  13. ↑ Thijs Kuiken, Ron AM Fouchier, Martin Schutten, Guus F. Rimmelzwaan, Geert Van Amerongen, Debby van Riel, Jon D. Laman, Ton de Jong, Gerard van Doornum, Wilina Lim, Ai Ee Ling, Paul KS Chan, John S. . Tam, Maria C. Zambon, Robin Gopal, Christian Drosten, Sylvie van der Werf, Nicolas Escriou, Jean-Claude Manuguerra, Klaus Stöhr, JS Malik Peiris, Albert DME Osterhaus: Newly discovered coronavirus as the primary cause of acute respiratory syndrome . In: The Lancet . Volume 362 (9380), July 2003, pp. 263-270, doi: 10.1016 / S0140-6736 (03) 13967-0
  14. ↑ a b First test for the novel coronavirus in China has been developed | German Center for Infection Research. Retrieved May 6, 2020 .
  15. ^ Christian Drosten. In: scholar.google.de. Google Scholar , accessed August 17, 2020 .
  16. ^ Drosten, Christian. In: scopus.com. Scopus , accessed on August 17, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Stephan Karkowsky , Volker Stollorz : Selection criteria in science journalism . In: Radio Eins (ed.): The professionals . April 4, 2020, 1: 00–2: 40, Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  18. ↑ Kai Kupferschmidt: How the pandemic made this virologist an unlikely cult figure . In: Science . April 28, 2020, doi : 10.1126 / science.abc5095 .
  19. ↑ Sonja Kastilan: What to expect tomorrow. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung . February 2, 2020, No. 5, p. 53 (interview with Christian Drosten).
  20. ↑ a b Harro Albrecht: Christian Drosten: The informant. In: zeit.de. February 5, 2020, accessed February 7, 2020 .
  21. ↑ Hannes Heine, Lars Spannagel: Christian Drosten is Germany's most influential doctor. In: Der Tagesspiegel. March 14, 2020, accessed March 15, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Carolin Gasteiger: Virologist Christian Drosten: Corona Enlightenment of the Nation. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. March 13, 2020, accessed March 15, 2020 .
  23. ^ The Enlightenment: This is how Christian Drosten became the most important man in Germany. In: Stern.de , March 17, 2020.
  24. ↑ Korinna Henning, Christian Drosten: Coronavirus Update. (PDF; 142 kB) Episode 32. In: NDR Info. Norddeutscher Rundfunk, accessed on May 1, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Julia Schaaf: A virologist becomes a bearer of hope. Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, March 22, 2020, p. 10.
  26. ↑ Virologist Drosten: Receive death threats , Ärzteblatt, April 27, 2020. Accessed May 31, 2020.
  27. ↑ More precise, quieter - but the core message remains , Zeit online, June 3, 2020. Accessed June 10, 2020.
  28. ↑ a b An analysis of SARS-CoV-2 viral load by patient age . Accessed on 8th uni 2020.
  29. ↑ Scientists distance themselves from "Bild" criticism of Drosten , Zeit online. May 26, 2020, accessed May 26, 2020.
  30. ↑ Drosten defends himself against the "Bild" newspaper , May 25th. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  31. ↑ Julian Reichelt denies anti-Drosten campaign Auf: Zeit-online , Hamburg May 29, 2020. ( online )
  32. ↑ The boss and his boys . Der Spiegel, No. 23/2020, May 30, 2020, pp. 18-19.
  33. ↑ SARS-CoV-2_viral_load , Charité, June 2, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  34. ↑ Corona virus update with Christian Drosten, episode 46 at 26:27 min. NDR info. 4th June 2020.
  35. ↑ Study: Small children have more SARS-CoV-2 in the smear than adults . In: aerzteblatt.de . August 3, 2020, accessed August 4, 2020.
  36. ↑ Doctors and virologists: Against the virus of misinformation | tagesschau.de. In: tagesschau.de. Retrieved May 7, 2020 .
  37. ^ Corona false news - Doctors and virologists warn of "infodemy". In: deutschlandfunk.de. Retrieved May 7, 2020 .
  38. ↑ secure.avaaz.org
  39. ↑ Virologists from the Tropical Institute receive a prize from the Werner Otto Foundation. Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine , press release from December 4, 2003, accessed on March 14, 2020.
  40. ↑ Wolfgang Wiedlich: NDR podcast on the coronavirus: How Christian Drosten manages to inform tens of thousands. Retrieved April 2, 2020 .
  41. ^ The Young Academy: Alumnae and alumni of the Young Academy at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. (PDF) Retrieved May 29, 2020 .
  42. ↑ DFG - German Research Foundation - Communicator Prize 2020 goes to Robert Arlinghaus - one-time special prize for Christian Drosten. In: dfg.de. Retrieved April 20, 2020 .
  43. ↑ Alicia Greil: Virologist Christian Drosten receives special prize for outstanding corona communication. In: https://www.merkur.de/ . May 15, 2020, accessed May 25, 2020 .
  44. ^ Süddeutsche Zeitung: Grimme Online Award: Drosten Podcast awarded. Retrieved June 25, 2020 .
  45. ↑ KlarText Prize Winners 2020 Selected - Special Prize for Virologists Prof. Dr. Christian Drosten. July 27, 2020, accessed July 27, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Drosten, Christian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Drosten, Christian Heinrich Maria (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German virologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 12, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Lingen (Ems)